Economic Costs of Bad Habit: Association between Smoking and Wage

This article analyzes the relationship between Smoking and work behavior, and more precisely, examines the impact of the status of a smoker on his salary. This dependence is explained by the fact that Smoking, having a negative impact on the health of the working individual, leads to an increase in the number of sick days, to permanent breaks during the working day, as well as to a possible decrease or loss of working capacity, which individually or collectively reduces the productivity of the individual. As a result, its overall position in the labour market is deteriorating. During the study, 5 types of models were constructed and evaluated, which differ in a set of variables and characteristics of Smoking. Main conclusions: The presence of gender differences in the impact of Smoking on wages was revealed. Smoking has a negative impact on men's wages and a positive impact on women's wages. The results of calculations showed that women have a premium for Smoking in the amount of 3.3% of the salary former smokers earn 6% more than women who have never smoked.